FAC AKB-74d Counterbalance
The FAC AKB-74d is the derivate of the FAC AKB-74, and uses a similar counterbalance system than the AEK-971. FAC created this rifle on request by the Republic of Kazakhstan in late 2016. The armed forces of Kazakhstan where unsatisfied with their AK-74 rifles and wanted to have a more modern, but affordable assault rifle. They were exited by the AKB-74, but found it to be upgradable, so they made a request for an advanced version. FAC sensed money and started a task force to enhance the AKB-74. The final version had a simple but effective upgrade, convinced the procurement office of the Kazakhstan armed forces, and was adopted in April 2017. Basically the AKB-74 and the AKB-74d are identical: they use the same receiver, same trigger group, buttstock, mag well and rail systems. The major difference is the use of a counterbalance system on the AKB-74d, to compensate most of the recoil. This counterbalance system consits of two pistons, that travel simultaneously. One piston travels backwards to cycle the weapon, while the other travels forward to compensate the recoil. The counterbalance system in combination with a compensator nearly zeros the recoil and you are able to fire precise full auto bursts. This convinced not only the procurement office, but also the military experts that were sent to test the rifle. It is as reliable and robust as its older cousin, easy to handle, and amazingly precise for an AK-derivate. The bullpub design is also a great advantage of this rifle, because it has a longer barrel and buttstock than a regular AK-74, but is shorter, despite the use of a counterbalance system. Also the big order price of round 1000€ was a major buying argument for the Kazakhstan army, who planed to buy at least 100.000 rifles. After the first 1000 models delivered, Kazakhstan army officials noticed, that they missed something on the design of the AKB-74d. The first soldierst that were equipped with their new assault rifles complained about the missing dust cover. FAC instantly buck up to solve this problem. The final solution was an AK-74 selector lever with only dust cover function. This dust cover is manually closed like on an AK-74, and has a connection to the bolt. If you pull on the charging handle in order to chamber a round, the dust cover is automatically pushed down as soon as the bolt traveled one third of its length backwards, and stays there until manually reset. When there is a round chambered and the dust cover was reset, it will also be automatically pushed down as soon as the round is fired and the bolt traveled one third of its length backwards. Kazakhstan army officials welcomed this new lower receiver and also the soldiers were pleased with this solution. As soon as available, FAC sent the new lower receivers and bolts to upgrade the already delivered AKB-74d to AKB-74f standart. Not only Kazakhstan was interested in this new assault rifle. On detours, some models also reached the armed forces of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Syria, Iran and even Russia. AKB-74 Counterbalance vs AK-74.png|Here you see a scale comparison between the AKB-74d and a regular AK-74 with folding stock. AKB-74d Rifle Counterbalance Infantry.png|Old version AKB-74d. AKB-74f Rifle Counterbalance SF.png|Two special forces models of the new AKB-74f. Special forces were the first soldiers to be equipped with the new service rifle. These men were the first that criticized the missing dust cover. AKB-74e Rifle Counterbalance.png|Version e of the AKB-74 counterbalance was FACs first attempt to solve the missing dustcover problem. They were on the right way, but Kazakhstan army officials disliked the new fire selector.